Hariri Telephones Jumblat during Meeting with Abou Faour in Casablanca

Former Prime Minister and head of al-Mustaqbal Movement Saad Hariri telephoned Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday evening during a meeting with Health Minister Wael Abou Faour in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

Both leaders agreed during the conversation to hold a meeting in the near future, a statement released by Hariri's media office said.

The statement said the meeting's date will be announced later.

Jumblat has confirmed to As Safir newspaper earlier on Friday reports that he was planning to meet with Hariri, renewing his call for the immediate election of a president to prevent the rise of local armed groups in several cities across Lebanon.

Jumblat hoped that a president would be elected and the army and security forces would receive the needed support from the rival parties so that armed groups in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon do not become active again.

Al-Akhbar and al-Liwaa newspapers have said the talks will be held next Tuesday.

Jumblat also revealed that he would travel to the French capital to meet with ex-President Michel Suleiman, who is currently on a visit there.

Suleiman left Baabda Palace on May 25 after parliament failed to elect a successor.

Asked about the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, Jumblat said: “We should limit the effects and repercussions of the Iraqi waves on Lebanon.”

“There will definitely be repercussions after the invasion of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant,” he said.

The insurgency has captured two cities and threatened to press forward to Baghdad.

Joumblat is correct in his assessment about the repercussions of what is going on in Iraq these days on Lebanon: what prevents ISIL from bringing the fight to hizbushaitan here in Lebanon, so that they can weaken the Syrian regime?
with Iraqis having an internal war, and hizbushaitan having to battle here in Lebanon, the Syrian regime will not stand for a week!

the sequence of events in this case are a bit different:
- isil is gaining ground, and more important, they are collecting weapons and ammunition from the abandoned posts of the Iraqi army.
- they are spreading the Iranian forces across 2 counties now.

thus I tend to believe this is just to regain more terrain over the Syrian regime ultimately. let us not forget that the war in Syria is supposed to last 10 more years, so each period the balance of the forces is adjusted so they keep fighting each other.